You'll Be Good
by Thepopcornpup
Summary: " Katherine felt an urge to leave the flowers and turn away, to go home and pretend that Hannah hadn't come to her that morning with a tear-streaked face and a letter in her hand." (One-Shot, quite angsty)


**Author's Note: Hello! I've arrived with a one-shot that was based on a Tumblr prompt, but I'm not publishing it in my Tumblr collection because I'm quite proud of this one and just want it to have it's own space? I don't know. I'd tell you the prompt, but it gives stuff away, so I'll just let you go on and read. Though, I will admit there is death mentions, so that'll be a trigger warning. I should be asleep, so I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"Jack?"

Katherine stood on the porch to the Lodging House, the brisk fall wind blowing through her long, black skirt. She clutched a bouquet of daisies in her hands, her pale fingers gripping to them as if she were scared to let go. She stared at Race, who, standing in the doorway, looked as exhausted as she felt.

"He ain't doin' so good." Race sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I figured as much," Katherine frowned. "Do you think he'll let me talk to him?"

Race shrugged and stepped aside. "You can try."

Katherine thanked him and hurried up to the roof. She quickly reached the top where, sure enough, Jack's hunched over figure sat near the edge. Katherine felt her fingers wrap around the daisies even tighter. "Jack."

Jack didn't respond. Katherine felt an urge to leave the flowers and turn away, to go home and pretend that Hannah hadn't come to her that morning with a tear-streaked face and a letter in her hand. She could imagine that the image of Davey holding Jack back as he screamed and sobbed had not been described by a now-exhausted Davey, and it had not been read out by Hannah in a wavering voice.

Hannah hadn't even know him that well. They met once, when Katherine invited him over for dinner after he hadn't sold enough papers for a good meal. He kept apologising that his clothes weren't nice and that his shoes were tracking mud, and he kept referring to Hannah as "Miss Hannah", even when both she and Katherine had said "Hannah" would suffice. He eventually got more comfortable in the lavish home, and even played a jaunty little tune on the grand piano in the living room. "My ma taught me when I was real young," He'd said sheepishly. "It's the only song I know."

Slight motion from Jack brought Katherine back to their unfortunate reality. He tapped the spot next to him, as if to say, "Please sit here, I'm lonely."

Katherine gently walked over and sat cross-legged beside him. She placed the daisies in hus lap wordlessly, but kept her hand on them.

Jack looked down. "Yellow daisies."

Katherine nodded. "Picked them from-"

"Central Park." Jack finished, still looking at the flowers.

Katherine nodded once more. "He told me that was the best place to find them."

Jack fiddled with the stem of one of them. "I remember, when he was about 9, he used to always have a daisy tucked above his ear. He stopped when some Brooklyn boy said it was too girly."

"I bet the daisy suited him," Katherine replied, placing the hand that was on the flowers on top of Jack's hand.

Jack nodded. "Of course it did."

A silence floated between the two. Katherine searched the air between them for the right words. But, it was Jack who spoke up first.

"He wasn't even 17," Jack whispered, his voice shaking. "He was barely 16. We celebrated his birthday just a few weeks ago. We-we didn't know."

Katherine rubbed her thumb in circles on Jack's palm.

"We didn't know," Jack repeated, voice raising. "I didn't know. I thought we had…we had time. He deserves time, he deserves more time. Crutchie Morris deserves so much more."

Katherine nodded, feeling the tears she'd worked so hard to restrain begin to roll down her cheeks. "I know."

Jack's head fell on her shoulder, quickly staining her black blouse in tears. She'd only ever seen Jack cry once before.

Jack closed his eyes, unable to stop replaying it all in his head. Crutchie insisting he was fine, Crutching seeming more and more out of it as the days went by, Crutchie seeming very off one morning, Crutchie collapsing, Crutchie being carried to the hospital, all while vaguely protesting that he didn't need to be carried.

Crutchie made sure that Jack's hand was holding his every day that he spent in that hospital. Or was it Jack who made sure that Crutchie held his hand? Jack couldn't be sure. Everything was a blur, yet all the pain seemed to stick out so clearly.

Crutchie was only ever half-there as they waited in that hospital, that damn hospital, waited desperately for good news. All they'd ever wanted was good news. Now, they needed it.  
Crutchie's fingers were tangled lazily in Jack's as he drifted out of sleep. "'M I still warm?"  
Jack squeezed Crutchie's hand. "You'se burnin' up, kid."

Crutchie nodded vaguely. "Burnin' up." He was silent for a bit, his eyes drifting around the room. Eventually, he spoke up once more. "You are…you're gonna be alright, Jackie."

Jack shook his head, a smile that wasn't entirely happy crossing his face. "I know that. I'm not the one we're worried about here."

"You don't got polio and…and a fever," Crutchie agreed. "But, I mean, you. You're gonna be good."

Jack frowned. "You're not making sense, Crutchie."

Crutchie sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. "Again?"

Jack nodded. "Again."

Crutchie sighed once more. He shifted himself to sit up more with a lot of effort. "I'm-I'm tryin' to…what I'se sayin' is, you ain't gonna be like this-" Crutchie took his free hand and motioned to Jack lazily. "-for forever. Y'know?"

Jack decided it was best to just let it go. "Alright, Crutchie."

Crutchie tilted his head. "'M dizzy, Jack. It hurts."

Jack knitted his eyebrows. "I'm sorry."

Crutchie looked over at Jack, seeming to attempt to make eye contact but having considerable trouble focusing. "Remember the time I almost fell off the roof?"

Jack nodded. "Gave me a heart attack."

Crutchie grinned sleepily, still attempting to focus on Jack, but the way the room seemed whirl around made the task impossible. "It was right before the strike, I remember. Then, you pulled me up and started talkin' all about the skies and the stars." He giggled, closing his eyes and tilting his head back. "'Drink in my penthouse!'"

"You said I was crazy." Jack smirked.

Crutchie giggled again, his head falling on his shoulder, and his hair flopping on his face. "You are crazy."

Jack crossed his arms, feigning offence. "Says who?"

"I says!" Crutchie snickered, pointing at himself.

Jack found himself laughing softly. "I says you're crazier."

Crutchie reopened his eyes, squinting at him with glazed-over skepticism. "No one's crazier than Jack Kelly."

Jack squeezed Crutchie's hand again. "I'd ask Davey and Katherine to back me up, but they'd probably agree with you." He chuckled.

Crutchie beamed, closing his eyes again. "See? See, I said so. You was gonna be good, see?"

Jack's face fell, feeling his brother grow further and further away. "Alright."

"What are you thinking about?"

Jack glanced up at Katherine, who had been playing with Jack's hair absent-mindedly. "Him."

Katherine nodded.

Jack continued with a sigh. "He isn't…he wasn't making a lot of sense before…but I think I'm startin' to figure out some of what he meant."

"What's that?"

"He wants me to be 'good.'" Jack did air-quotes. "He wants me to be happy, I think."

"Of course he did," Katherine agreed softly. "That's all he ever wanted for you, Jack."

"How?" Jack's voice was raw. "Even Santa Fe makes me think of him."

Katherine was quiet for a long time, considering her response. "Crutchie…Crutchie brought sunshine everywhere. Naturally, he would want his memory to do the same."

"I don't want his memory, though," Jack almost growled. "I want him."

Katherine closed her eyes, felt the autumn wind on her face. "He's with you, though. Not the way we want him to be."

There was another long silence. Jack glanced down at the flowers again. "I'm gonna paint."

Jack stood, clutching the flowers. Katherine stood too, almost panicked. "Wait."

Jack turned to her. "You can stay with me." He paused and looked down at his feet before looking back at her, voice cracking. "Please stay with me."

Katherine nodded, stepping forward. "Of course. But, may I-may I keep one of the flowers?"

Jack shut his eyes, feeling the tears return. He nodded slowly and handed her one. "Of course." He handed her three more. "Dave and Les and Sarah'll all want 'em too."

As Jack set down his parchment on the floor and began painting yellow petals, as Katherine held his right hand as his left created daisies that would live forever, Crutchie sat on the other side of Jack, giving a crooked grin and whispering, "I told ya you'd be good."


End file.
